JOYCE ADMITS HE’S THINKING ABOUT LIFE AFTER DARTS

RYAN JOYCE admits he is already thinking about what comes next if his darts career is cut short.

Relentless has made a steady start to the year, reaching the quarter-final of the Belgium Darts Open. 

But the Newcastle thrower is yet to make it past the third round in any of the opening ten Players Championship events. 

The world No.26 struggled to deliver on the big stage, suffering a second-round exit at the World Championship before failing to build momentum at the World Masters, where he crashed out at the first hurdle. 

Joyce, 40, admits to considering a back-up plan in case he loses his PDC Tour Card over the next couple of seasons.

He told Sawyer Darts: “I’ve never really thought about that before. I have always been determined to make it in darts. 

“Now that I am older and I have had a few bad weeks on the tour, I feel like I could be closer to the end of my career than I think. 

“I have started to think about what I can do if I lose my Tour Card in the next couple of years and have to do something else. 

“I will still only be in my early 40s. I will have to do something else to make money, wouldn’t I.

“I would probably ask friends or my dart manager, who has got his own businesses and things. 

“I could probably get a job helping him. It would not be anything exciting. I haven’t got hidden qualifications for a job or anything like that.” 

Joyce also revealed he has conquered his fear of flying after it previously held him back on the tour. 

He added: “I was going nowhere in the rankings, not playing the Euro Tours, it was ridiculous. As soon as I conquered the fear, I moved up quite a few places. 

“Now, because I am doing well on the ProTour Order of Merit, I automatically qualify for all the European Tours. 

“So, I have to go to all of them. Now that I automatically qualify, I need to win a game to get it on the rankings. 

“But I don’t mind that. I think the fear of flying,  I don’t like fairground rides and things like that. 

“I don’t like sudden movements and I like my feet on the ground. I don’t like travelling fast. It was different things like that which made me feel really nervous.

“Now when I get on a plane, I have researched how planes work. I have watched so many videos of pilots talking about exactly what happens and why a plane feels like it does at certain times. 

“I have done all the research and I have some noise-cancelling headphones now. I have programmed my phone with music. 

“I just put my headphones on and concentrate on my phone — no problems. The last 12–18 months have been much better.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.